Revision Worksheet

Grade__ 6

Instructions for the Reading Comprehension Task:

Read the passage carefully and answer the questions based on the
text. For multiple-choice questions, tick the correct answer. For
open-ended questions, write your response in complete sentences.

The Homecoming of Festus

The Homecoming of Festus is the opening chapter of a novel by Henry

Treece about life in Britain after the departure of the Romans.

It was a morning in early summer and the sun already shone on upland and
meadow, woodland and stream. The slopes of southern Britain seemed to
bask contentedly in the new warmth, as though nothing could happen on
such bright morning to disturb their peace, their sleep, their ancient dreams.

Then suddenly a lark rose from the grass, startled and crying out in alarm,
and over the brow of the hill a boy came running. The sun caught his close-
cropped dark hair, the flushed olive of his skin, and glinted on the round
topaz, set in a circle of silver, that acted as a shoulder brooch, fastening the
short red cloak that floated out behind him in the breeze.

On one side of the broad bronze-studded belt that held in his red woollen
tunic swung a well-filled sheepskin pouch; on the other a leather-hafted
dagger in an enamelled scabbard. His bare brown arms and sturdy legs
cased in trousers of a red and blue squared pattern gave promise of
considerable strength and agility. This was as it should be in a boy whose
great-grandfather had marched half over the world as a Roman centurion
with the Eagles, and whose mother was still thought of by their neighbours
not as a Roman lady by marriage, but as the grand-daughter of Festydd, the
chieftain; he who could bend a sword over his neck and had once held a
golden eagle by the legs until the creature had ceased struggling. It was of
such stock that the boy had come, and it was from that very chieftain that he
had his name, though now it takes the form of Festus, having changed like
many of the older British words.

So Festus ran on down the hill, steadying the bouncing pouch at his side,
thinking of the presents it contained - a necklace of true Whitby jet for his
mother, a narrow coral belt for his little sister, Julia, and a pair of ivory dice
for his father. He was impatient to be back home, to stride into the villa like a
full-grown man and toss the gifts on to the table as though they were just
ordinary things. Above all, he was anxious to tell them all that he had made
a good bargain with the woollen cloth which he had been entrusted to take
to the far-off dyeing sheds outside the city - a bargain which not even his
father himself could have bettered, for prices had suddenly risen as though
men were anxious to buy what they could without delay.
But Festus knew that he had more than half a mile to go, to the valley
bottom, and that before he caught the first glimpse of their red-tiled villa and
the long weaving shed behind it he must pass through the wood and make
his way along the ditch that separated his father's land from the fields that
adjoined it.

As he thrust his way through the furze and between the sharp prickles of the
holly trees, avoiding overhanging boughs above and adder-infested clumps
below, Festus could not resist a glow of pleasure in his achievements. He
saw his
mother's grave smile, his sister's wide-eyed admiration, his father's
approving nod! He ran on until he had reached the further edge of the wood,
and then, putting his fingers to his lips, blew a long piercing whistle,
repeated twice, so that they would know he was coming, that their son was
returning home after an absence of almost a week.

Now he could see the tall trees that surrounded the house, sheltering it from
the winds that blew down the valley, and even thought he caught a glimpse
of a rising wisp of blue wood-smoke. He would soon be there, accepting a
cup of juice from his sister, who would be so grateful for her belt, or nibbling
one of his mother's honey cakes, while she stood before the silver mirror,
admiring herself in her new necklace of jet. And then he stopped suddenly.
At the foot of the slope, not much more than a hundred paces away from
him, a man lay by the ditch, his knees doubled up beneath him and his
hands held round his head, as though he was praying earnestly and had
fallen asleep. Festus shielded his eyes with his hands and stared. It was
Arfon, surely, his father's shepherd; no one else would wear that old sacking
tunic, pulled in at the waist with rope. Festus felt that something must be
wrong with the old man and ran on now, faster than ever, towards him,
calling his name as he went.
At the side of the ditch he stopped, wondering, for the man was so still.
Then, mastering his sudden fear, he bent and rolled Arfon over as gently as
he could. Even as he touched him, he knew that there was something
different about him. His body was so stiff, and the legs remained bent even
when the man lay on his side.

Now Festus waited no longer, but ran along the side of the field as though his
life depended on his speed. With the blood thumping in his head, he rounded
the clump of tall poplars and cypresses that sheltered the villa, and there he
saw what he feared since he was a small child and had dreamed about,
despite all coaxing and comforting. The house was a tumbled pile of ash and
broken tiles. Charred beams stuck upwards like gaunt fingers, and the pieces
of mosaic that had once formed the floor of the dining
room, and of which his mother had been so proud, lay scattered here and
there among the grass like pieces of coloured paper that a destructive child
has torn up and flung away.

Glossary
Topaz – a precious stone
Scabbard – a cover or casing for a sword
Centurion – an officer commanding a Roman Century (a unit of about 100
soldiers)
Eagles – a figure of an eagle (symbolising power) was carried at the front of
Roman armies, so Roman soldiers became known as the Eagles
Boughs - main branches of a tree.
Mosaic – a picture or pattern produced by arranging together small coloured
pieces of hard material, such as stone, tile or glass.

Questions:

1- Look at paragraph two.

What made the lark 'cry out in alarm'?
___________________________________

2- Which one of the following phrases shows that the passage is

set a long time ago?
Choose one.

 to disturb their peace, their sleep, their ancient dream

 great-grandfather had marched half over the world as a centurion
 It was of such stock that the boy had come
 a lark rose from the grass, startled and crying
 3- Look at paragraph three.
The writer wants the reader (you) to think Festus is athletic.
Find and copy one phrase that makes the reader (you) think this.

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

4- How does the writer make the reader understand that Festus
comes from an important family? Choose two.

He is strong and agile.

He has dark hair and olive skin.
He has valuable possessions.
He has changed his name.
He has travelled a long distance.
He is well-dressed.

5- Look back to paragraph four. Why did Festus leave his home?
Choose one.

to buy presents
to go on holiday
to buy cloth
to sell cloth
to join the Eagles

6- Why does Festus imagine himself arriving home and throwing

'the gifts onto the table as though they were ordinary things'?
Choose one.

to show they were not valuable

because he's in a hurry
to impress his family with his success
because he doesn't like buying presents

7- Look back to paragraph four. What does the word 'entrusted'

tell you about the task Festus had been given?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________

8- Select a phrase that shows that Festus had travelled a long

distance.

Above all, he was anxious to tell them all that he had made a
good bargain with the woollen cloth which he had been entrusted
to take to the far-off dyeing sheds outside the city - a bargain
which not even his father himself could have bettered, for prices
had suddenly risen as though men were anxious to buy what they
could without delay.

Answer Key

1. What made the lark 'cry out in alarm'?

The boy, Festus, startled it when he came running over the hill.
2. Which one of the following phrases shows that the passage is
set a long time ago?
Great-grandfather had marched half over the world as a
centurion.
3. The writer wants the reader (you) to think Festus is athletic.
Find and copy one phrase that makes the reader (you) think
this.
His bare brown arms and sturdy legs cased in trousers of a red and
blue squared pattern gave promise of considerable strength and
agility.
4. How does the writer make the reader understand that Festus
comes from an important family? Choose two.
o He has valuable possessions.
o He is well-dressed.

5. Why did Festus leave his home?

To sell cloth.
6. Why does Festus imagine himself arriving home and throwing
'the gifts onto the table as though they were ordinary things'?
To impress his family with his success.
7. What does the word 'entrusted' tell you about the task Festus
had been given?
The word 'entrusted' suggests that the task was important and
required responsibility and trust. It indicates that Festus was
 considered capable and reliable enough to handle such an important
duty.
8. Select a phrase that shows that Festus had travelled a long
distance.
"...the woollen cloth which he had been entrusted to take to
the far-off dyeing sheds outside the city..."